Category: Women

Betsy Devos is the 11th and current Secretary of Education of the United States. She is a philanthropist, an activist, American businesswoman and politician. Betsy was born and raised in Holland, Michigan. Betsy attended school at Holland Christian High School and after that joined Calvin College in Grand Rapids where she graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree. Her political career began in college where she participated in campus politics. Betsy is best known as a leading advocate for the Educational Choice Movement. She is also known for her advocacy of charter schools, school choice, school voucher programs and her ties to the Reformed Christian Church. She was brought up being a member of the Christian Reformed Church in N. America. Devos has been a member and also an elder of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids.

Betsy is wife to Dick Devos, who is the former CEO of Amway, a multi-level marketing company. Her family is one of the wealthiest families in Michigan. She is the chairperson of a privately held multi-company operating group called Windquest Group which she, together with her husband founded in 1989. It invests in manufacturing, clean energy, and technology. Betsy and Dick launched a family foundation in 1989 motivated by faith. The Devos Foundation is centered in accelerating transformation, cultivating leadership and offering support in leadership, arts, community, justice and education. The couple’s charitable giving add up to $139 Million, and in 2015 they were ranked by Forbes in top 24 lists of America’s top givers. The Devos Foundation contributed $11.6 million to charity in 2015. The foundation has also donated a lot of money to health research, Christian schools, arts organizations, evangelic missions, hospitals and also conservative, free- market think tanks. Most of their donations go to Christian organizations. Some of the groups funded by Devos Foundation are Acton Institute, Center for Individual Rights, Baptists for Life, Michigan’s Foundation for Traditional Rights, Institute for Justice, Michigan’s Pregnancy Resource Center and Right to Life Michigan Educational Fund. Some of the educational-focused donations made by the Foundation include; $652,000 to the Ada Christian School, $2.39 million to the Grand Rapids Christian High School Association and $458,000 to Holland Christian Schools. Read more on Los Angeles Times.

In 2009, Devos family founded an international art competition held in Grand Rapids, Michigan known as ArtPrize. Betsy is also a member of other numerous local and national boards including; Mars Hill Bible Church, Foundation for Excellence in Education, Kids Hope USA and the Devos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center. In politics, where she has been active for over 35 years, she has chaired in political parties and also contributed financially towards campaigns. Betsy Devos served as the chairperson of the Michigan Republican Party from 1996 to 2000. She also personally raised more than $150,000 for President Bush’s re-election campaign in the year 2004.

Facts That You May Have Never Known About Singer And Actress, Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez is an only child whose mother gave birth to her when she only 16 years old in Grand Prairie, Texas. She was born on July 22, 1992 and is currently 24 years old. Her mother named her after the famous Mexican-American singer, Selena Quintanilla who was also born in Texas and had Mexican ancestry. Pizza is her favorite food and she especially likes eating the crust of a pizza. Her favorite color is green and her favorite subject in school was earth science, especially the part about learning about the earth’s many layers. She’s most famous for Wizards of Waverly Place, which due to the popularity of that and Harry Potter prompted some pretty great crossover Harry Potter theory fan-fiction stories.

Other interesting facts about Selena Gomez are that she has five rescue dogs and that her name means moon in Greek. She was home schooled while pursuing a singing and acting career and got a high school diploma in 2010. Her favorite actress is Rachel McAdams and her favorite singers include Britney Spears, Bruno Mars and Rihanna.

Facts That You May Have Never Known About Actress, Angelina Jolie

The hot Angelina Jolie‘s hair color is actually a dark blonde. She dyes it a dark brown and it has been dyed ever since she was a little girl of only age four. Jolie says she had a major crush on the Dr. Spock character of the Star Trek series. Her hobbies include collecting knives and first edition books. Angelina Jolie suffered from major depression in the early 1990’s and even cut herself.

As the cost of living goes up, the cost of quality health care is going beyond people’s financial ability. This situation has seen firms such as InnovaCare introduce loads of managed health care services to their clients. InnovaCare Health has been successful in this field. Apart from the quality of its provider network and Medicare Advantage programs, the company’s success is attributed to its quality leadership. The most notable executives of the firm are Rick Shinto and Penelope Kokkinides. Over the years, the company has been prioritizing the needs of its clients.

Dr. Richard Shinto has been with the firm since 2012. The executive leader is the president and CEO of the health care services provider. He joined InnovaCare from Aveta Inc., where he also served as the president and chief executive officer. For over two decades, Dr. Shinto has been rendering his services in clinical and operational healthcare.

After graduating from college, Rick Shinto worked in Southern California as a pulmonologist. Later, Medical Pathway Management Company appointed him to serve as the chief operating officer and CMO. In 1996, he worked for Cal Optima Health Plan as the chief medical officer. The firm is located in Orange County, California. Shinto has also rendered his services at MedPartners as the corporate vice president responsible for medical management.

In addition, Rick Shinto is a renowned the author. Over the years, he has published dozens of scientific papers in numerous journals. He largely focuses on health care and clinical medicine. The executive leader pursued his medical degree at the State University of New York. He also holds an MBA from the esteemed University of Redlands.

Penelope Kokkinides is also a new executive leader at InnovaCare Health. She doubles up as the company’s chief operating officer and chief administrative officer. She joined the firm in June 2015. Like Dr. Shinto, Kokkinides previously worked for Aveta Inc. She was the company’s COO and vice president in charge of clinical operations. In her expansive career that spans over 20 years, Kokkinides has served in management positions of numerous companies. She has worked for Centerlight HealthCare and Touchstone Health. At Centerlight, Kokkinides worked as the chief operating officer. View her infographic resume at Vizualize.me

Kokkinides has managed to hold different senior positions because of her sound educational background. She is a graduate of Binghamton University and New York University. Penelope Kokkinides pursued her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences at Binghamton. She holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Redlands. Read more about Penelope on Bizjournals.com.